5932/Titans: New Kids on the T.

Titans: New Kids on the T.
Date of Scene:	06 December 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Stardust demonstrates the Danger Room to Nova, Ultragirl and Nightingale. Being Stardust, she tests the Titan's new recruits with a Danger-room scenario lacking danger, to see if they'll blow it up anyway.
Cast of Characters:	Stardust, Ultragirl, Nova (Alexander), Star Shimmer

---

Stardust has posed:
    A short while ago, the Titan's communicators entrusted to Nova and Ultragirl started beeping. There was time for them to figure out what to do next - simply enough, press the emblazoned 'T' - to get a message to play. The message simply said "Titans Tower. Tonight at 8. Follow the arrows.'

    Arriving at the tower, the two will find their way easily enough. There's nobody there to greet them, but red arrows light their path. Doors open automatically for them. The elevator is pre-programmed to bring them to the correct destination. Finally the elevator arrives in a huge darkened room that takes up a full floor of the tower. Windowless, there's nothing to see but blackness and a line of red arrows, pointing to a red circle on the floor.

    Standing in the red circle is a single member of the team. Dressed in what looks like a rather high-tech suit of flexible armor, perhaps kevlar, but white and gray rather than the normal blacks, and a matching half-face mask. Ultragirl met Stardust already, but it'll take her a moment to recognize the Titan, as her costume is quite different from the previous time they met.

    Having received a message from Robin that there's another new recruit, Stardust is curious to know who's going to turn up. Robin failed to mention a single fact about the person he's sending along.

Ultragirl has posed:
    Landing on the ground floor this time because it makes more sense, she follows some arrows to an elevator and hmms. She looks around in confusion as things go till she is finally up to the room with Stardust in it. She looks around the room idly as she enters and then hmms, "Alright." She says softly to herself and walks toward the circle and then idly glances around before saying, "Umm, hi." She says and then looks back toward the entrance again, "I'm here I guess."

Nova (Alexander) has posed:
    There's a streak of blue in the sky that seems like a shooting star, only it's lower, much lower. The blue light in the sky comes down fast towards the Tower and lands directly in front of the front doors at the base of the tower. There is a young man, a boy, with smoke coming from his fist and knees that he hit the ground with. Yeah, strike a super awesome super pose. Cause that is what it's all about, looking cool.

    Sam straightens up and holding the disk he was given by Robin in one hand he looks up at the tower and is almost slack jawed. "Whoa." He mutters as he starts to look around and spots the lights ushering him inside and upwards, after he waits for the elevator to come back down from taking Tsu-Zana up to the desired floor.

Stardust has posed:
Stardust nods her head to Ultragirl in greeting. She glances down at a tablet held in her hand, which informs her that the other new recruit is in the lobby, and she touches a control, sending a signal to the tower computers.

    Downstairs in the lab, where Amarok has been showing Nightingale some of the Titan's facilities, the lights dim and an alarm goes off. <<Nightingale to the Danger room, please.>> an automated voice states. A line of arrows appear on the floor, pointing the way to the elevator.

    Stardust looks back up at Ultragirl. "We've got a couple of other new recruits, I wanted to get the three of you together," she explains as they await the other two. "Just to go over some basics."

Ultragirl has posed:
    A look over at the direction she came from briefly, Ultragirl turns back to Stardust and nods her head, "I see." SHe smiles, "Well, always best to get everyone together for that, I imagine." She nods her head, "Makes things simpler." She then idly stretches her arms above her head and then looks back down again, "So, this kind of an initiation?"

Star Shimmer has posed:
Autumn aka Nightingale, happens to be geeking out over the tech in the lab. She may have touched a few things behind Amarok's back but... no damage. As the alarm goes off, She looks around, "Well. Guess its time to go kick ass." With that she goes to the elevator and makes her way to the Danger Room.

A moment or two later, the young Star Sapphire steps into the danger Room, "Hiya Stardust, You rang?" She smirks in a playful manner. Punching her hand into her fist, her uniform a circle of violet light shimmers up over her body, changing her uniform to something that looks a lot more like a Gotham style Vigilante than a Star Sapphire. "Good to go!"

Turning her attention to the others present, She gives a smile, "Oh Hey Ultra Girl! good to see you." She smiles and stretches a little. Hey if its a training thing, she can actually stretch right?

Nova (Alexander) has posed:
    "That's a big door." Sam says with a smirk to himself as he steps onto the elevator and looks around, before he clears his throat and says with a crack in his voice, "Uh... thi- third floor please. - I don't even know if that's right or not." He says to no one and then sighs, "I don't even know if I'm talking to anything." Sam notes aloud.

    He feels movement eventually and the bead of sweat that was on his eyebrow fades as he feels less like an idiot.

    Sam steps off the elevator in his shiney new Nova uniform that spawns from the black and red helmet on his head and he steps into the landing. "Um- Hello? You called for me, or you called me. I don't know the correct grammer." He says with a hidden chuckle.

Stardust has posed:
    "Not an initiation," Stardust tells Ultragirl with a smile. "That comes later. I can't give away any hints, but do /not/ drink the red drink. And bring a towel." She's joking, right? It doesn't look like she's joking.

    Autumn's arrival is greeted with another nod. "More like a first step. On being in a team." The reply works for both of them, so Stardust switches gaze from one to the other as she gives it. "We have one more to come. Robin sent someone. I have no idea who, so if the elevator door opens and some kind of giant mutant slime turns up, don't zap it. This isn't part of the test."

    The elevator doors open - Sam's instructions notwithstanding to the correct floor - and he enters, not the promised giant mutant slime, but...

    "A Nova?" Stardust says, blinking in surprise at Sam. She stares at him for a few moments, then breaks into a broad grin and asks "Aren't you a little short for a Corps trooper? Uh. Yeah. Welcome to the Titans Tower. Specifically to the Danger Room. Which is so called, because it's dangerous. I'll demonstrate that in a minute. I'm Stardust. This is Nightingale and Ultragirl. They're new.. And you are?"

Ultragirl has posed:
    "Oh, hi!" She waves a hand at Nightingale before looking back to Sam and hmming softly as she hears what Colette has to say about him. She glances over at Colette briefly and then nods, "As she said, I'm Ultragirl. It is good to meet you." She nods her head and then looks over at Autumn briefly with a smile and then looks over at Colette before looking over at Sam again, waiting for a response on what he prefers to be called.

Star Shimmer has posed:
"Process of elimination, I am Nightingale. Sadly my name doesn't fit anymore but that is not what this is about!" The Star Sapphire snickers a little. She stretches a little more and looks around Turning her gaze to Stardust she gives a warm smile, "Aww, you won't haze us too much right?" She winks playfully, "I'll bring more donuts..."

Then with a quick clap, She rubs her hands together before making a quick construct of a strange caped duck. Rubbing her hands together, The construct copies her as she speaks, "Lets Get Dangerous!"

Nova (Alexander) has posed:
    "I'm not a Storm Trooper." Sam says with a visible frown towards Colette and he crosses his arms before his chest with a huff. He quickly lowers his arms for the introductions and gives the girls as a whole a salute, "I'm -well- you said it already. I'm Nova." He says, snapping his arm away with that cocky grin he wears so well.
    Sam extends his hand towards Ultragirl and smiles a large smile, "Nice to meet you too." He says, polite with women cause he feels his mom would lecture him so hard if he wasn't. How she would figure it out he has no idea, but he's not going to risk it. "Nightingale, that's a cool name. You both have cool names." The Nova says with a smile before he looks back to Colette, "Dangerous room doesn't sound like it's 'E for everyone'."

Stardust has posed:
"Nova the Nova," Stardust says with a smile. "Cool, hi Nova. What are you doing on Earth? Nevermind, that can wait." She fingersnaps at Autumn. "Wrong! Wrong answer. Let's not get dangerous. Reason being? We're not ready yet. Lemme explain something."

    Stardust jabs at her tablet again, and four giant anvils appear suddenly, floating in the air, one over the head of each person present. The anvils have '4 tons' written on the side of them, and 'Acme Anvil. Use with care' written on the other side. They look straight out of a Warner Brother's Cartoon. Stardust puts the tablet down on the floor and slides it away, then straightens and looks at the trio. "First rule of being on a team, is knowing the team. Doesn't matter how confident you are in your own abilities, if you don't know what your team-mates can do, you /will/ make the wrong decisions."

    "These anvils are holographic projections. The projection system includes force projection, capable of generating several tons of pressure. There are safeties, but they can be tuned to the user. Or switched off, like they are now. What's the right course of action? Are you confident that you can stop all four in time? Or do you prioritize? If so, which do you stop first? What are your team mates doing? Who is most vulnerable right now?"

    Stardust looks from face to face. "The biggest danger you face in here, or out there, is not knowing the team. Some of the Titans are squishier than others, and if you make the wrong call, someone might get squished. And it could be you fault. Then Robin will get terse with you, and believe me nobody wants that. Wanna do some good? Find out what everyone on the team can do. And let them know what you can do."

Ultragirl has posed:
    Listening intently, Suzy considers the words of each in turn. She smiles as she shakes Nova's hand, her handshake firm. She giggles at Autumn a moment before looking then to Colette again and considering. SHe looks up and stares at the anvil before looking at the others and then says, "So, they exert around 4 tons of force?" She looks at Colette again and then hmms.

    "Given the distance to you and me, I'd probably save you first as I'm not sure of your abilities. I know that Nightengale can create shields so she is likely to cover herself. Nova sounds, well, frankly, tough but I can't be sure. EIther way, I'd get you out of the way before the anvil fell and then go to try and knock his anvil away." She nods her head.

    She then looks up and hten back at Colette and then shifts a little, blushing a bit, "Umm, was that rhetorical? If it was, I'm sorry." She nods her head and then looks up again and then looks to Colette with an awkward grin.

Star Shimmer has posed:
When the Anvil's appear, As comedic as they appear, Nightingale winces. On instinct she makes a big umbrella over herself and Nova. Why not Ultragirl? Because she has fought beside her and knows the anvil will break before Ultragirl's head. "Mother?" She jokes as she gets ready for the pressure in excesss of 8 tons on her construct.

"Okay then so... Nova, What can you do?" She asks. Hey she's doing what she was told to. "I'm a Star Sapphire. I can make construct, Spread love, And do all sorts of freaky deaky stuff!" She looks at Ultragirl, "I know you are pretty much a flying brick. What else can you do?" She asks curiously, "Oh and I know you can look good in Orange!" Then to Stardust, "What can you do too? I mean you found out a bit about me the other night when I was brought in for a visit."

"Terse?? I swear by Queen Aga'po that may be the biggest understatement of the decade." Nightingale may still be a bit salty concerning Robin's attitude.

Nova (Alexander) has posed:
    Sam was paying attention and at the sudden appearance of an anvil above his head he dives forwards to get out of the way of the anvil. As he's turning to land on his side and back, he starts to summon the Nova Force at his feet, but stops when he sees the two girls not reacting and talking, or putting up a large umbrella construct. "Watch ou-Oh." Sam says while rising off his backside and frowns. "Uh, I can fly, and shoot lasers, and create some shields, I think I can do more, but I'm not too sure. I'm also a lot stronger." He explains with a glance to Autumn, and then his gaze goes to Tsu-Zana and lastly Colette, hopefully he didn't fail, but he didn't help either.

Stardust has posed:
Stardust listens to each in turn in silence, giving them all a chance to say - and do - their thing. When they're all done, she turns a broad grin on Ultragirl. "It was intended to be unclear if it was rhetorical or not. I wanted to see how you'd all react. And that includes taking initiative. Never apologize for taking initiative, Ultragirl. Good call, given the information.

    Turning to Nightingale, Stardust gives a nod. "Protecting two people, decent choice. If you'd tried all four, you might have been slow. Asking what other people can do though? Absolutely correct." She snaps her fingers, and the anvil over her head drops down, bouncing off her head with a loud clang, hits the ground with a louder one, and rocks to a halt. "You guessed right, too."

    Then Nova. Stardust narrows her eyes at him slightly before nodding her head. "You don't know what you can do. That's interesting. Have you not had Nova training? I know someone you might want to talk to.

    Stardust snaps her fingers again, and the anvils all disappear. "Right! You all have three minutes to talk to each other and decide who does what. Then a threat will appear. Get talking!"

Ultragirl has posed:
A nod and Tsu turns her attention to the others. "Well, I am Ultragirl and I am capable of feats of great strength, kinda tough, I am pretty fast, and I can fly. oh, and I can see invisible stuff." She nods her head and stands up straight.

Star Shimmer has posed:
Autumn looks at Suzy and then to Sam, "I'm Nightingale. I'm a Star Sapphire. I make light constructs and do a whole lot of crazy lovey type things. I can Phase, As long as my field's up, I can withstand a lot of damage oh and think of it like my own personal life support unit. There is more but, times short. Oh I can fly too."

Nova (Alexander) has posed:
    Sam pushes himself back up off the ground and the cut out in the helmet for his mouth shows of the embarrassed frown. He lifts his hand to tap the side of his helmet and he explains, "This baby lets me access the Nova Force." Then with a turn to make sure the whole crew can hear, "That means I can fly, shoot beams from my hands and force fields from my whole body- punch and move really heavy things- and the helmet lets me breath in space. Cool right?" Sam says with a large cocky smile.

Stardust has posed:
    Stardust stands still, simply watching and listening to the interplay between the three. She makes no comment until there's a ping from her tablet, when she snaps her fingers.

    Around the circuit of the chamber, a glow appears and then spreads outwards, giving the impression of the chamber expanding rapidly; it's an illusion, projected holographically, but it's an impressive effect. When the motion stops, the glow describes a circle perhaps a hundred feet across, spreading up the walls of dome. "Okay. Word of warning. Nothing here is real, but it can hurt. There are safety mechanisms in place, but they can be switched off, and the gizmos here can generate several tons of force. This is not a toy." She pauses a moment, eyes going to the side. "Okay, well I do sometimes rig it up to play games, which is awesome. But only with the safeties on full. Uh. Point is, this may hurt, but it's scaled so it won't injure you. Likewise, scale what you do. This stuff is expensive. Don't blow it up. We can calibrate for your strength and shooty beam things later, for now just know you're not going to have to hit anything very hard." She snaps her fingers again, and walks to the side.

    Suddenly walls fill the domed space. Walls, doorways and passages,in rock, plastic and metal. The three new Titans find themselves standing in the middle of a broad corridor filled with life. None of the life is human. Perhaps two dozen different species of alien life are present, milling around, yelling at each other in many different languages and generally being rowdy. "Welcome to nowhere," Stardust says with a smile as she leans against a wall and crosses her arms. Or was that 'Knowhere'?

    There's barely a moment to take in all the detail and confusion before a creature standing perhaps 8 foot tall and the build of a Rhino pushes his way through the crowd with a roar. Several of the other aliens close by scatter from his path, opening up a space between the giant alien and the three new Titans. Spittle spraying from a fanged mouth, it bellows in some alien language and flexes its impressive muscles.

Ultragirl has posed:
Looking around, Tsu blinks and smiles, "Wow..." She grins and then nods, "Pretty cool." She nods her head and rolls her right shoulder, "That is pretty...cool." She eyes the large alien and turns to look at him, "Wow, he is a big one." She looks to Autumn and then Nova, "Either of you speak Bebop?"

Star Shimmer has posed:
"I got this." Autumn steps forward to the Rhino Alien type. Her ring already having translated for her. "Libby, Translate for everyone present." She states to her ring.

"Of course Nightingale."

She smiles and glances around. "This place is pretty spot on!" She smiles and finally turns her attention to the Alien man, "Greetings, Yes we are from Terran. We were just coming by for a drink and a little break." She smiles knowing that just as her rings translates for her, it also translates for the guy she's talking too as well. "He was wondering if we were from Earth. I said we are."

Nova (Alexander) has posed:
    Sam's eyes light up and the young man whoas to himself as the whole room changes into a different setting. "Okay, that's flippin' cool." He says to no one before he looks over at Tsu and then Autumn as she decides to step up to save the day. Or at least speak for the three of them. Sam purses his lips off to the side of his face and cross his arms before he leans against the hallway wall as he watches the Rhino alien dude and how he reacts to Autumn's greeting.

Stardust has posed:
    Translated by Nightingale's ring, the creature responds: "I thought you were, though I have only seen pictures of humans before. It is a pleasure to meet you, though a pleasure tinged with alarm. I just ran into three Badoon bounty hunters, who are apparently hunting a human. They are watching the crowd just beyond the turning ahead of you. Be careful, brave humans!

    As he speaks, the creature gesticulates wildly with every indication of being about to attack. Ferocious gesturing, hands forming fists, slavering growls. Either Libby's translation has gone very wrong, or this race has some pretty deceptive body language.

Ultragirl has posed:
Listening and watching, Suzy seems less than convinced. She isn't moving aggressively but still has her hands crossed and looks to Autumn, "Is...that thing working right?" She asks and then looks at the hologram of teh angry alien, "Maybe it is broken? Cause that thin...guy..Uh. Umm, whatever the alien is, it seems rather angry." She nods her head and then looks at Autumn and then at the Rhino, "And also what is a Bogdoon?"

Star Shimmer has posed:
When the guy begins signing Autumn just looks at him. The fact that her ring stops translating doesn't surprise her. The fact that he's not speaking and actioning raises Autumn's attention.

She turns her attention to Suzy and frowns, "One way to find out, Libby give me some information on the Badoons."

"Primative in nature but very much advanced technologically, the Badoon are a reptian species. They are of two genders, Males, which reside on the planet Moord and the Females which reside on the homeworld of the Badoon, Lotiara. They are comparible to Humans in abilities but their technology more than compensates."

As for the man gesturing to them, Autumn looks at them, "I can try something. My ability to sense emotions tends to focus more on love though." She closes her eyes and tries to pick up on what he is feeling.

Nova (Alexander) has posed:
    Sam remains against the wall, looking from Tsu to Autumn and back to Tsu before he looks back to the obviously upset rhino-thing. However Sam, having actually been to knowhere, knows better than to assume this alien creature is hostile. Those poping knuckle motions could just as easily be the way that species waves casually. He isn't familiar with that species, he just doesn't assume it's nature to be similar to humans, and well, his team mates aren't acting aggressively either, so he doesn't push it either.

Stardust has posed:
"Yeah that's not going to work, Nightingale." Stardust doesn't move from her comfortable lean against the wall, where she's watching with no obvious reaction to the team's actions. "Holographic. Psi-simulation is a bit beyond terrestrial technology still. There's something you're all forgetting though. There are three of you. This is the big difference between being in a team and acting on your own."

    Stardust bumps away from the wall, pausing the simulation with a gesture, and walks in a circle around the now-frozen angry-looking alien. "You're trying to deal with what's in front of you to get it out of the way before you deal with the next threat. Sensible when solo. As a team, you can deal with several things at once. Now. Who's the person who's lead you should be following on dealing with the angry looking guy, and who's getting prepared to deal with the Badoon? Ultragirl, you don't know what you're facing here. So you need to be trusting people who do. Nova, you're looking pretty casual about this all, wanna tell the others why?"

Ultragirl has posed:
A blink and she looks over at Autumn with some surprise before looking then to Sam. She considers him a moment and then looks over at Stardust. The paused simulation gives her pause and she clears her throat, "I'd love to know what is going on." She states and nods her head, "This is definitely not my element." She chuckles and shrugs. She then rolls a shoulder and looks to Sam, "I'm a hammer, not a brush. You know something?"

Star Shimmer has posed:
Autumn blushes, "Well it is a pretty convincing hologram." She laughs a little. Her aura fades a little. "It was worth a shot though. And you are right." She looks at Nova and then at Suzy then back at Nova. "You are being pretty quiet though."

"Right. Okay We have some lovely reptilian people outside the bar actively hunting us. We have the guy here who is trying to communicate but unable to. I can deal with the angry guy. The Badoon will need two of us at least if not all of us. Libby has access to the collected information of the Star Sapphire corps. Incomplete records with this race is most likely."

She pauses and thinks a brief moment, "I think, I can maintain the translation abilities for the area but, I've never tried before. Worth a shot to find out why humans are being hunter right?"

Nova (Alexander) has posed:
    "I just know we can't assume Alien's actions and cultures are the same as our own. He's an alien, just cause he snarls and pops his neck like we think a 'bad human' guy would do, we shouldn't think that's what he's doing."

    Sam stays against the wall, not wanting to break the immersion of the simulation. "I mean, if we are a team, I would trust either of you to handle this guy, but if what he's saying is true, I would leave Nightingale here to handle him while me and Ultragirl go ahead to find the Badoon until En-Gee could catch up. Or is that wrong?" Sam asks, looking and nodding, "Yeah, pretty much what she said." He reaffirms with a thumb cocked over to point at Autumn.

Stardust has posed:
    Stardust cracks a smile. "Right. Good. Listen guys, you're newbies. So are the rest of us. That's basically what the Titans is. Even Robin, who's been training since before he was born, is still a newbie in many ways. You saw that, Nightingale. I'm not doing this to teach you how to be heroes, for all I know the three of you are better at it than me. I'm doing this to show you that it's different being in a team. You'll need to be able to trust each other's calls, but that will come with time. Right now, Nova's the one with the plan, so let's go with it."

    Stepping back to resume leaning on the wall, Stardust clicks her fingers again and simulation starts up again, all the holographic aliens continuing just what they were doing before. "Let's go, guys!"

Ultragirl has posed:
A shrug and she chuckles, "I see." Then Tsu looks over at Sam and smiles, "I like the plan." She looks to the alien and then at Autumn, "You got this?" She doesn't wait long on a response before moving in the direction of the Bounty Hunters, "Go up if you can, Sam. I'm gonna just go right at them." She nods her head, "Let them focus on me and you can go ahead and make them regret their choices from above if need be." She nods and starts off, looking around as she moves.

Star Shimmer has posed:
Autumn nods, "I have this." She smiles to Ultragirl and then Nova. "Hey, try diplomacy first. Its worth a shot right?" Then with that she turns her focus completely on the more aggressive appearing guy. She takes her ring and scans over the hologram, trying to find out if there is injury present.

"Libby translate as best you can." She looks at him, "I know you aren't trying to hurt anyone. Were you hurt? If you were, was it the Badoon?"

Nova (Alexander) has posed:
    Sam nods, and with a glance back to Autumn, then to Colette, the young man nods again and takes off into the air, the trail of blue vapors and light fading quickly as he leaves the hallway and then goes up from the doorway quickly and will follow along well above Tsu.

Stardust has posed:
It isn't hard to find the Badoon. Once Ultragirl has reached the corner, she can see people reacting with momentary alarm as they take the corner ahead of her. She won't be able to see exactly what's going on there, but it's a fair bet people are coming face to face with something threatening once they've cleared the corner. The alarm is generally short-lived before they continue on their way, so whatever is there is presumably not actively dangerous - at least to non-humans.

    The angry-seeming alien raises his arms in response to Nightingale's questions, apparently showing his armpits to her. "Not hurt, thank you human," the alien replies. "I wished only to warn you in case you were walking into danger. They are checking people as they pass, looking for a human. Badoon are very violent creatures, I was concerned for you." There's more gnashing of fangs and flexing of muscles as he talks.

    Stardust floats up into the air, drifting alongside Nova as he paces Ultragirl. As they reach the corner, she calls down "Both of you, follow me. Take the corner the same time. Nova, take the left side, I'll take right. Give them three things to think about at the same time." She speeds up a little, taking the corner without looking to see if the other two took her word for it and are moving with her. Assuming they do, they'll see a group of three Badoon, two holding rifles, and one holding some kind of scanning equipment, which they are pointing at the crowd as it passes. One of the rifle-weilding Badoon grunts an alert and gestures towards the first human to appear, and the whole trio comes to attention as the scanner is passed over the humans.

Ultragirl has posed:
Coming around the corner as instructed, ULtragirl stops and if the scanner is accurate...it won't register that she is human. At least not completely. If it is based off of a simulation, it might. Either way she halts and looks from one Badoon to the next and clears her throat, "Hello there." SHe raies a hand in greeting and steps forward, "How are you guys doing?" She hmms and tilts her head a little.

Star Shimmer has posed:
Autumn nods, "Thank you very much. I've heard. My friends are going to check it out. I think I may go meet these guys myself." She smiles and then, with a smile, With a shimmering flash, her clothing changes. Suddenly she looks like your generic, yuppy earth tourist. Even has a violet camera around her neck. "Just because they are violent, doesn't mean that we can't be civil right?" With that she walks out towards the Badoon's checkpoint. She's acting as normal as possible. After all, what better way to handle them than to make them underestimate her. Standing in line, she simply smiles and gives a glance to Ultragirl, winking at her.

Nova (Alexander) has posed:
    Sam follows Colette's orders and comes around the corner at the same time as she does, and times it carefully with Tsu, "Heya Badouches, got your human right up here!" He says, slapping his hands against the chest before he aims his hands forwards towards a badoon with a rifle. "By order of the Nova Corps, I order you to stand down." The 'space cop' says.

Stardust has posed:
    Ultragirl's greeting provokes a surprised look from the Badoon with the scanner, who takes a couple of steps back. He sweeps the scanner from Stardust to cross her, then to Nightingale. He pauses on Nightingale for a while, apparently puzzled by the tourist get-up. Which due to the lack of yuppy Earth tourists on Knowhere, sticks out like a sore thumb. Finally he scans up to Nova. His eyes widen and he issues a stream of guttural speech, which Libby and Nova's helmet both translate as "This one's an <expletive> Nova. It's not any of them."

    The two armed Badoon lower their rifles and relax. Switching to a crackling, machine-translated English, he addresses Nova. "We are licensed under local security forces, we are committing no crime." Turning to Ultragirl, he continues, "Are you Terrans? We seek a renegade of your species. Can you..."

    "Simulation end!" As soon as the words escape Stardust's lips, the Badoon, the crowds, the walls and all disappear, and the entire sense of space retreats, revealing the bare walls of the chamber, empty but for the four Titans, a circle on the floor marking the 'safe' zone by the walls, and a control console by the door. "Okay, I've seen enough." She drifts down and stops on the ground." Like I said, this isn't a training session, this is just a little taster so you guys see how working in a team is different, and get some idea of the problems that creates. Number one being, you need to know your team-mates."

    Stardust smiles widely at the three. "You guys all look like you've got what it takes. Didn't do anything crazy. You were too hesitant, not instinctive enough in acting together. Which is to be expected, 'cos you don't know each other. Or me. So, that's your next task. I am upgrading your security to give you access to the main common room in the living quarters. Use it to meet people, get to know everyone, get to trust us, and get us to trust you. In short, become part of the team. Any questions?" Her smile breaks into a grin. "Or are you guys ready to see what this baby can do when I connect up the Playstation?